Costume in Action

Deborah Nadoolman Landis in conversation with Sammy Sheldon Differ

In the early stages of her career Sammy Sheldon Differ worked as costume concept artist for films such as Gladiator and Plunket and Macleane.

As a celebrated costume designer for film and TV, she has gone on to design a number of blockbusters and cult movies such as The Kinky Boot Factory, V for Vendetta, Kick-Ass, Gulliver’s Travel and Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. She discussed, with Professor Deborah Nadoolman Landis, her creative process and the contribution her work has made to the films she has worked on.

Key contributors

Sammy Sheldon Differ

With Kick Ass 2 currently showing in UK cinemas, Sammy Sheldon Differ is a celebrated costume designer who worked on major films such as ‘Merchant of Venice’ (2003), which gained her a BAFTA nomination for Best Costume Design, ‘The Kinky Boot Factory’ (2004), ‘V for Vendetta’ (2005), ‘Stardust’ (2006), ‘Kick-Ass’ (2008), ‘Gulliver’s Travel’ (2009) and ‘X-Men: First Class’ (2010). She has also worked as assistant designer for ‘Plunkett & Macleane’ (1997) and ‘Gladiator’ (1998) and received another BAFTA nomination for Best Costume Design for BBC’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ (2003). Sammy has been a guest lecturer at various colleges and was invited to present her design practice at ‘Hidden in Plain Sight: the Art of Hollywood Costume Conference’ at the V&A.

Deborah Nadoolman Landis

Deborah Nadoolman Landis is the David C. Copley Chair and the Founding Director of the David C. Copley Center for Costume Design at the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television.

She is the Academy Award-nominated designer of Coming to America (1988) and many other films, including Animal House (1978), The Blues Brothers (1980), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983). Professor Landis served as a two-term president of the Costume Designer’s Guild, Local 892, of which she has been a member for over 35 years. She is the author of Screencraft: Costume Design (2003), 50 Designers/50 Costumes: Concept to Character (2004), Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design (2007), FilmCraft: Costume Design (2012), Hollywood Sketchbook: A Century of Motion Picture Costume Illustration and was the editor of Hollywood Costume (2012), the book that accompanied the V&A’s major 2012 exhibition on the subject. Landis has a PhD in the History of Design from the Royal College of Art, London